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Manila Improv: Just Roll With It

Curt Mabry of Zmack (Shanghai); The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Written by

Jude Bautista

There was very much a Filipino Fiesta atmosphere, even when we were just waiting in the lobby of the PETA Theater last July 8, 2015. Different kinds of plastic utensils were formed into weird hats and headgear strung from the ceiling with giant garters. People could easily play with them, wear them and take pictures. A perfect set for improv performers or anyone for that matter. Set designer Leeroy New is the ingenious mind behind the weird plastic robot heads as well as the futuristic and versatile stage background.

Who’s (Phone) Line is it anyway? PLDT Telpad supports the Manila Improv Festival. It runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

from left: Mla Improv Festival dir Gabe Mercado & Aryn Cristobal of SPIT cheer: One chance only, only one chance! The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Out of nowhere girls were chanting: “One Chance Only! Only one chance! One Chance Only! Only one chance!” Even when we didn’t know what he hell was going on the chant was infectious especially when they’re as hot as SPIT gals: Aryn Cristobal, Happy Feraren and Chal Lontoc Del Rosario.

The Beijing Collective’s Wu You; The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

The chanting was for the simple fiesta game where gifts would be slowly lowered and a seated guest would try to grab anyone of them but can only have one attempt, hence the chant. The gifts were peanut butter from Lily’s, official Manila Improv festival notebooks, pens and so on but because of the enthusiasm the prize and activity seemed so much like a big DEAL. Grown ups were given the chance to become kids again, have that sense of wonder and play.

That sense of play, allowing yourself and your mind to wander at the same time be focused enough to create that’s what the 3rd International Manila Improv Festival is about. It runs at the PETA Theater Center from July 8-12, 2015. A total of 18 teams from different parts of the world and our country participated in this fun event.

From Bacolod and Cagayan De Oro to Warsaw, Poland and Brisbane Australia, they gathered here to share their knowledge and make people howl with laughter. The Tropical Improv Camp was conducted at Siliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental from July 2-5, 2015.

from left: Bizworld reporter Jasmine Cruz and cousin Annika Dadiva. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Business World writer Jasmine Cruz asked one of the obvious but important questions of the night during the open forum: What do you do when you get stuck? Luke Rimmelzwaan of Impromafia responded by stuttering, “Uhhhm…eeehhh. (Hesitates to talk; the crowd laughs at him getting stuck) it’s a good question. How do you NOT get stuck in a conversation? That’s using rhetoric now. But it’s the same principle when you’re on stage. It’s about not getting scared by that and sort of leaning into it. Try to find something, there’s no right or wrong response to anything. Its whether you commit to what happens after that.”

Luke goes on,”Early on a lot of improvisers are worried they’re not going to be funny or they’re not going to clever or not going to be smart. Thing is most people are funny and smart, its just letting yourself BE that on stage. It’s as simple as not worrying of getting stumped if you do get stumped just roll with it. And something new will come out with that and something that hasn’t happened before on stage so it’s about finding those that throw you off and going haha! Lets keep going that way! I don’t know what that is but that’s new and that’s exciting.” The ImproMafia team sent to Manila is composed of Amy Currie, Natalie Bochenski and Luke Rimmelzwaan of Brisbane, Australia.

Luke Rimmelzwaan of ImproMafia. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

‘Just roll with it’ in this sense doesn’t mean just passively going along with what happens but rather making use of it. Being able to do that as a team makes it easier and infinitely more rewarding. ZMACK based in Shanghai is a Manila Improv Fest regular by now.

Curt Mabry of Zmack (Shanghai). The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Their senior member Curt Mabry talks about teamwork in this field and why they even do it in the first place, “I think because it’s collaborative. All of us in ZMACK each one of us in these groups are talented in other ways. Maybe they’re actors or singers or stand up comics but its so much more rewarding to create something as part of a team. In ZMACK we’d like to call it a family. We have that kind of atmosphere. You see it a lot in many of these teams. One plus one equals a lot more than two. You get a lot more out of working with someone than you could working on your own. The ideas you come up with by saying yes to your partner on stage can be much more amazing and astonishing than something you could create on your own. So frankly it’s just rewarding and makes us a lot happier than other forms.”

Pawel Najgebauer of the PIP Show, hails from Poland. He describes how he and team mate Piotr Sikora work, “Me in my group we don’t rehearse we just talk a lot. Maybe that’s what happens in our improv we talk a lot in the end. But during our talks we go deeper and deeper and we find something that is common between us and we bond that is what’s exposed on stage basically. So whatever you do rehearsing the bonding part is most important. You find trust between the members of the team and that’s how the magic of improv starts. When you have that you can go wherever. Your partner on the stage will just catch you. That isn’t rehearsing.” This Polish duo showed how bonded they really are with an improvised guy on guy French kiss on stage. They were definitely a hard act to follow, talk about commitment to a scene.

The PIP Show can improvise nearly anything on stage Pawel Najgebauer & Piotr Sikora including a guy on guy kiss. Photo by filmmaker and SPIT member Jay Ignacio from his fb page: https://www.facebook.com/jay.ignacio

Improvisation was not confined on stage. The music also has to be improvised on the fly and is provided by rock star Pepe Manikan. Pepe has gained so many fans for his inspired soundtrack not just from the audience but also from the guest performers.

Gawad Buhay Awardees from left: Myke Salomon (Outstanding Sound Design), Gabriella Pangilinan, Jay Ignacio of SPIT, Erin Locsin of One and a Half Men and Pepe Herrera (Outstanding Male Featured Performance in a Musical). Both Myke & Pepe earned their Gawad Buhay awards for RAK F AEGIS still running at the PETA Theater Center. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Who’s (Phone) Line is it anyway? PLDT Telpad supports the Manila Improv Festival. It runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

One and A Half Men with Impromafia. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

POSTSCRIPT:

One of the first things you notice as an audience member is the unorthodox voice over reminders before the shows. They sound like announcements in the style of the Cultural Center of the Philippines or pre flight audio before take off. There are several versions one in Filipino, Chinese, English and the one here is in gay lingo:

The Beijing Collective’s Wu You shoots with her tablet. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

from left: John Gilbert Arceo of Bacolod Improv with Taichung Improv from left: Josh Myers and Dennis Dziedzic. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Utensils were reconfigured and put together to become space helmets and anything the imagination can come up with by set designer Leeroy New. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

The PIP show team from left: Antoni Syrek-Dabrowski, Pawel Najgebauer, Piotr Sikora and Helen Li. They hail from Warsaw, Poland. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Opening dance for Comedy gods by Ronnie Martinez. He also finds creative ways to scream and announce the two-minute warning to performers. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Who’s (Phone) Line is it anyway? PLDT Telpad supports the Manila Improv Festival. It runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Center: John Gilbert Arceo-Bacolod Improv, w Dulaang Atenista (Cagayan De Oro) from left: Matthan Luceña, Jethro Javier, JC Salan and Carlo Olorvida—NOT in photo is Ryan Lao. The group is from Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan. The 3rd International Manila Improv Festival runs from July 8-12, 2015 at the PETA Theater Center. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Jude Thaddeus Bautista

I'm a professional writer and photographer for over a decade. The subjects that I cover vary from entertainment to film, music, travel, lifestyle and even sports. Stories and pictures can come from anywhere, this is my way of sharing them with you.

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